One rescue crew told how they heard cries for help from a crumpled mobile home in Panama City.

They managed to free a mother and daughter, both diabetics who had been trapped in a closet without insulin for two days and were on the verge of diabetic shock.

Others said families were stealing jam from their neighbour's wrecked homes to feed their children.

“Volunteers are working side-by-side with first responders. They are cutting holes in roofs. They try to take a picture so we can call the family and tell them we made contact,” said Matthew Marchetti, co-founder of the Houston-based CrowdSource Rescue.

An estimated 20,000 people hunkered down in shelters during Hurricane Michael, with as many as 320,000 people on Florida's Gulf Coast ignoring evacuation notices.

Mr Long added: "Rescuers have so far been unable to conduct thorough searches there. I think you're going to see it climb."

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